


You and I (And the Dog)

by YellowBananaOwl



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: M/M, established-skipthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 17:24:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5879344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowBananaOwl/pseuds/YellowBananaOwl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who let Arthur have a dog in the cabin?</p>
            </blockquote>





	You and I (And the Dog)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WingcommanderArthurShappey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingcommanderArthurShappey/gifts).



> Written as a Christmas present to wingcommanderarthurshappey, but I thought I would share it with the rest of the world.  
> Thanks to the fandot chat for helping me come up with this.
> 
> The title is from a very cute song by Egil Olsen. (look him up!)
> 
> Characters belong to John Finnemore

Martin sighed deeply. This was supposed to be a short and easy flight, just a short cargo trip to Edinburgh and then straight back. Arthur had begged to come along since they had spent so much time apart lately. Martin had been busy with Icarus and Arthur wasn't always joining them onboard; this was their first flight together in over three weeks.

 

Although Martin was glad to have Arthur on board, there was one thing he and Carolyn hadn’t anticipated.

 

The dog.

 

Ever since the disastrous flight to Abu Dhabi, and the diversion because of that bloody cat, Arthur had been obsessed with the safety and comfort of any animal they were to carry. It was a good thing that he now checked the cargo heating temperature about a dozen times before they closed it, but the pilots were getting a bit tired of him checking up on them every five minutes whilst in flight to make sure the temperature hadn’t dropped. If there weren’t any passengers on board, Arthur insisted on having the animal in the cabin instead of the hold, something Carolyn would only let him do as long as he promised to keep the animal in its cage during the whole flight. Today, it was only the crew members on board, so Arthur had been allowed to take the dog into the cabin. The flight went smoothly and they hadn’t seen a sign of Arthur during the whole trip. Martin was a bit upset about this, but he knew that Arthur would probably hang out in the flight deck on the way back when the plane was empty.

 

Unloading the plane would not take long, and there was a lorry waiting by the airport to take the cargo to the right address. The boys were to have a quick meal at the airport and then return to Gerti as soon as possible. Martin quickly realised that that was not going to happen. Douglas had merely sighed, shook his head and left the plane to find food and let Martin deal with his boyfriend on his own.

 

The man had broken Carolyn’s rule and was standing in the aisle holding the little puppy in his arms.

 

”Skip, pleeeeeeaaaaaase!”

 

”Arthur, no! You can’t.”

 

”Why not?”

 

”It’s the client’s dog!”

 

”But I want him!”

 

”You can’t have him.”

 

”Why not?”

 

”You know why.”

 

”No, I don’t.”

 

”Arthur!”

 

”But, Skip, look at him! He’s the cutest dog I’ve ever seen. He’s just as cute as you! Look at him. Look at his eyes. They’re brown like mine. Look.”

 

Martin did the huge mistake of actually looking. Both Arthur and the puppy was now staring at him with big brown eyes, creepily alike. Martin moaned.

 

”Arthur, you can’t. I’m sorry, but we have to return the puppy to the client.”

 

”But he likes me. He doesn’t want to go.”

 

”Arthur, you don’t have time for a puppy. You already have Snoopadoop, and you’re always travelling. You can’t just leave him alone and have someone come over to your house twice a day for a walk and to feed him. He needs constant watching for months!”

 

”We can take him with us,” suggested Arthur. ”He’s already been on Gerti once, so we know he can do it again. He can become MJN’s mascot.”

 

”He can’t be onboard Gerti, Arthur. He shouldn’t even be here right now! He should have been in the hold and he should _definitely_ have been in his cage.”

 

”But he was whimpering, Skip! I couldn’t just leave him in there. He was so happy when I let him out. And he hasn’t peed on anything, I promise. I kept an eye on him the whole time!” Arthur looked at him with begging eyes. ”Please can we keep him.”

 

”And what are you going to tell the client when he notices his dog is missing?”

 

”Maybe we can tell him the cage broke and he ran away?”

 

”And then risk a lawsuit and bankrupt the company?”

 

”Oh, maybe not that then,” said Arthur and scratched his head. ”Oh, maybe we could tell him we never got a dog at Fitton. We only got his furniture and things. We never saw the dog, so he must have misplaced him.”

 

”You would do that?”

 

”Yes.”

 

”Without turning red and falling over?”

 

”Oh…”

 

”I think it’s best that you put the puppy back in the cage, we hand him over to his owner, who probably misses him, and go on about your lives like we usually do.”

 

”But, Skip…” Arthur moaned.

 

”Arthur, you can’t keep him,” Martin said. ”I know it’s hard, but you can’t. It’s not your dog. Someone else owns him and loves him.”

 

”I know, but I still want him.”

 

”I know you do,” sighed Martin.

 

”What if I manage to persuade the owner to give him up? Then can I keep him?”

 

”And how are you going to do that?”

 

Arthur looked at Martin with his own puppy eyes. Martin whimpered. That trick definitely worked on _him_ , but he doubted the owner would fall for it.

 

”Maybe we could buy him a new dog,” suggested Arthur. ”And give him that one, and then we could keep Elephant here.”

 

”You’ve _named_ him?”

 

”Of course,” said Arthur. ”He’s my friend. And look at him, he’s grey and has big floppy ears. Just like an elephant. It’s perfect!”

 

Martin put his head in his hands and groaned. ”I think it would be easier if you just bought a puppy.”

 

”Yeah, I’d love that, but I don’t think Mum would like that, though,” said Arthur. ”She loves Snoopadoop, but I think two dogs will make more of a mess. Unless…”

 

”Unless what?”

 

”Unless _we_ get a dog?”

 

”What?”

 

”Yeah,” said Arthur. ”You and me! That’s brilliant. Then it doesn’t have to stay in Mum’s house and compete with Snoopadoop. She does get jealous very easily.”

 

”What are you talking about? I can’t have a dog in my attic. I’m almost never there and there’s no room, and -”

 

”No, Skip, I mean we could get a house and then get a dog and keep it there.”

 

”We don’t have time for a dog, Arthur,” said Martin. ”We’re always flying or working. Wait, what did you just say? Get a house?”

 

”Yes!”

 

”Y-y-y-you and me?”

 

”Of course,” said Arthur as the dog licked his face. ”I mean, it’s normal that boyfriends get a house together, right?”

 

”You want to move in with me?”

 

”Yeah!”

 

Martin didn’t know what to say. He had thought about this, of course. They had been going out for quite some time, and it would be the most logic step in their relationship. However, Arthur seemed so happy where he was and Martin didn’t know if he would ever want to move from his old home. And to top things off; neither of them could really afford anywhere else.

 

”I mean, I love living with Mum,” Arthur continued. ”I’ve done it all my life, and it’s brilliant. But I think living with you would be even more brilliant. Because then I can see you all the time, even when we’re not flying or having movie nights at your flat and stuff. And maybe I can help out with Icarus. I can be a man with a van when you’re out flying and I’m not.”

 

”Do you really mean that?”

 

”Why are you so surprised?” asked Arthur. ”I love you, of course I want to live with you. But I think maybe your attic would be a bit small for us, plus I think that if I am to live with you I don’t want to share you with the students or with Mum.”

 

Martin smiled. ”I like that. I don’t want to share you, either.”

 

Arthur beamed back. ”So are we actually moving in together?”

 

”I don’t think either of us could afford a house, though. But we _can_ look for cheap flats when we get back to Fitton.”

 

”Brilliant!”

 

Martin still couldn’t believe that Arthur actually wanted this. To move out of his big house, where he lived for free, to live with _him_ , in a tiny, and probably run-down, flat (if they could even find one).

 

”We can’t get a dog, though,” Martin added.

 

”Awwwww.”

 

”But if we ever get our own house, we can look into it.”

 

”BRILLIANT!” Arthur cheered and leaned over for a quick kiss. Then he looked at the dog. ”I’m so sorry I can’t take you home, Elephant. But I get to take Skip home, and I’m probably even more happy about that, because I love him and he doesn’t pee on the chairs.”

 

”ARTHUR YOU TOLD ME -”

 

”Oh, I didn’t mean to say that.”


End file.
